What a week! Story Tapestries just submitted two major grant proposals that, if awarded, will help us take significant strides toward our Virtual Classroom – a brand new website that offers curated arts-integrated lessons and activities for educators, parents and concerned adults.

Story Tapestries is an advocate and a collaborator for building a blueprint for success through our network of artists, educators, families, organizations, businesses, presenters and community leaders. The core principle of what we engage in is Arts Integration which means that we use the arts as a tool to teach with, learn from and develop the community. We recognize that the keystone in the bridge that we are often building is the arts, but we need to incorporate other pieces of the puzzle (curricula, conflict resolution, financial literacy, community service, etc) to truly create change. We want our website to be a community resource center – a place for people and organizations to collaborate and connect with a variety of diverse resources.

The grants we just applied for will help us start building the foundation of our Virtual Classroom, which is our new website. To take this first step, Story Tapestries decided to partner with a local marketing firm in Maryland, Marstudio, to help us build and design our new framework. The initial design and building phase for our new website is being tackled from January to June 2017. Then, in July/August 2017 we will be ready to take the next steps toward the Virtual Classroom itself. Although now that feels like all the time in the world, we know it will be summer before we know it!

Marstudio is an award-winning and experienced Strategic Branding & Creative Marketing Firm located in Rockville, MD, and they conduct business locally (Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia), nationwide and internationally. After researching many options throughout the DC metro region, we realized their commitment to local non-profits while bringing a national and international perspective was exactly the fit we were looking for. We’re excited to be able to partner with a local company to undertake this project.

Although our Virtual Classroom can be used as a tool for teaching all curriculum areas, its benefits for STEAM are particularly exciting. It will encourage familiarity with crucial modern technologies such as computers and tablets, providing opportunities for children in remote or underserved areas to build computer and internet skills while engaging with the arts.